This is a letter sent to the council on 27th July to ask for more, better parking.

Dear Transport Committee and ATAG Members,

(The Plough in East Sheen – frequently used by cyclists, with no parking provision of any type)

I am writing on behalf of Richmond Cycling Campaign to urgently request action on new cycle parking across the borough. 

There are two key types of parking needed:

• Space for residents and visitors to park their own cycles (of all types)
• Space for these groups to park dockless bikes and scooters

Richmond Cycling Campaign endorses the current approach of mostly freeform parking for dockless hire bikes taken by the council. However, the knock on effect of this is that space for people to park their own cycles is being squeezed significantly. Our members are regularly complaining about space at key locations, and we are aware of frequent residential complaints around parking. 

The new Forest deal proposes 1,500+ dockless bikes in the borough, yet there is no obvious change to parking provision. Our failure to deal with this is causing unnecessary stress for residents and for riders, and poisoning discussion around these bikes. 

We are asking you to act, and act quickly, on both these types of parking. If it is the council view that parking dockless bikes in the same location as normal cycles, then we believe this should be made clear, and significant additional space is needed. 

We list below just some of the locations and events which are of a particular concern, 

We have a number of areas of concern at the moment:

• Council events, such as Centre Stage
• Local events – Barnes market, Kew market, Twickenham Farmers Market, all the fairs
• Doctors’ surgeries, schools and all the other areas people congregate, or visit briefly (theatres, cinemas, etc.) 
• Stations
• Throughout our town centres
• Other high streets and shopping destinations
• Places of worship
• Our many parks

The infrastructure for this is not expensive, and we hope the council can act quickly to re-purpose car parking spaces across the borough As an example, you may wish to consider a series of smaller bays (5-10 bikes?) for the dockless scheme – reduced size will lessen impact on car parking, make installation easier, and allow for more frequent bays.

We attach below two maps provided by hire bike providers, showing proposed locations as well as frequency of trip endings. Our members have a long list of suggested locations for ‘normal’ and dockless parking, and would be very happy to support the council in identifying locations. 

Sincerely,

Richmond Cycling Campaign.

Map indicating where they suggest parking bays – black dots are existing bays, yellow dots show suggestions.